I'm a big fan of the genre as well. In general, I find asian horror movies scarier than western offerings, especially the Japanese. "Ring", the original version, is so much better than the American remake... Those do not show you that much, yet work in subtler ways. The soundtrack typically plays an huge part.

I was surprised someone would mention Prometheus. Its an excellent science fiction film, and it does have a few scary moments. An horror movie though? I think not.

I think Prometheus certainly falls under the Sci-Fi horror category. While it's a science fiction film first, there are definitely moments meant to scare, creep out and freak out the audience. That C-section scene in particular is pretty brutal and gave me the willies lol.

Yes, categories are needed, and Alien and Prometheus certainly deserve a spot in sci fi horror, although I'm probably more receptive to their sci fi elements than I am with their horror factor, especially in Prometheus' case. It has monsters, it's probably supposed to creep you out at times, but it didn't do it from me. Oh well.

Hmm... Should I reorganize the thread or something if categories are needed? Any suggestions?

Speaking of Japanese Horror films, I have really enjoyed several different movies that fit into this category. I watched/own Juno and Ringu and thought that they were great. I honestly thought The Ring was better than Ringu but I have been wanting to rewatch it lately so maybe I'll do that this weekend. I don't know why (perhaps I was drunk or something at the time) but I didn't find the movie as good as everyone said. Some horror movies that I really enjoyed were A Tale of Two Sisters and [REC] 1 and 2. I thought that those movies were excellent and I loved how A Tale of Two Sisters was shot. The soundtrack of the movie was also excellent and I thought the ending credits were beautiful, with the sister sitting by the lake. Highly recommended if you haven't seen it and you like Japanese horror films.

Rev wrote:Hmm... Should I reorganize the thread or something if categories are needed? Any suggestions?

Speaking of Japanese Horror films, I have really enjoyed several different movies that fit into this category. I watched/own Juno and Ringu and thought that they were great. I honestly thought The Ring was better than Ringu but I have been wanting to rewatch it lately so maybe I'll do that this weekend. I don't know why (perhaps I was drunk or something at the time) but I didn't find the movie as good as everyone said. Some horror movies that I really enjoyed were A Tale of Two Sisters and [REC] 1 and 2. I thought that those movies were excellent and I loved how A Tale of Two Sisters was shot. The soundtrack of the movie was also excellent and I thought the ending credits were beautiful, with the sister sitting by the lake. Highly recommended if you haven't seen it and you like Japanese horror films.

Have you tried Dark Water? From the same guy who brought us the original Ring, you might like it. The Ring also have a sequel, as well as a prequel, both are Worth watching as well.

Yeah I watched and own both dark water movies (English and Japanese versions) they are awesomeThe jap version is way better though. I totally forgot about that one. It is great. I haven't seen the prequel to ringu. Sounds interesting.

Outside of Japanese horror films, some other good import horror films from other countries would be the host, the orphanage, Julia's eyes, a girl walks home alone at night. Has anyone seen those?

I might split the thread into different horror genres if people agree with Scotland.

Rev wrote:Outside of Japanese horror films, some other good import horror films from other countries would be the host, the orphanage, Julia's eyes, a girl walks home alone at night. Has anyone seen those?

I might split the thread into different horror genres if people agree with Scotland.

The Host was a great deal of fun. It fell somewhere between a satire on the media and government, a black comedy and a drama about a family pulling together - that just happened to have a huge monster running around.

I've seen a few other Japanese horror movies that have impressed me:

- Audition (1999), directed by professional lunatic Takashi Miike. I'd say more about it, but it's honestly the type of movie that you'll appreciate more the less you know going in.

- Kairo (2001) (aka Pulse), directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. This movie was remade in English back in 2006; I've never seen the remake, but by all accounts it sucks. It's somewhat hard to describe the story - it seems to be an allegory about how obsession with technology in present-day Japan is separating people from each other and slowly causing the decay of society. I guess you could consider it a ghost story, although what is really going on is never quite clear. The story is told using a series of long, slow, creepy takes that rely more on mood and atmosphere than coherence, although there are a few shocking moments spread throughout.

- Tetsuo the Iron Man (1989), directed by Shinya Tsukamoto. One critic called this movie "Eraserhead meets The Terminator", and that's not a bad description. The setup is simple - one day a man wakes up to find that his body is slowly turning into a machine - but that does nothing to prepare you for what happens next. Extremely low-budget movie with tons of bizarre stop-motion and homemade special effects, along with an awesome old-school industrial soundtrack. It starts off a little slow, but the second half is almost one visual explosion after another. It's strangely hilarious, too.

- Hausu (aka House) (1977), directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi. Do you like Evil Dead II? Would you like it even more if it started a bunch of Japanese schoolgirls starring in a live-action Scooby Doo cartoon? Incredibly imaginative, colorful, crazy movie with outlandish special effects that don't even attempt realism.

- Jigoku (1960), directed by Nobuo Nakagawa. A little bit on the hokey and melodramatic side, but a pretty great early Japanese horror movie that follows a series of wayward souls as they exit this world and enter the next one. The Hell sequences feature some primitive, HG Lewis-style gore, but a majority of the movie is more concerned with projecting an atmosphere of upcoming doom than anything else.

velcrozombie wrote:- Audition (1999), directed by professional lunatic Takashi Miike. I'd say more about it, but it's honestly the type of movie that you'll appreciate more the less you know going in.

I can't believe I forgot that movie. Audition is one of the most disturbing horror movies I've seen (or at least is really gross in several scenes). I've shown about 3-4 of my friends the movie when they thought they had seen it all. Audition has proven time and time again to have held up very well over time and to be highly original. I think the only thing that bothers me about the movie is that it takes so long to get going. The climax is excellent (I won't spoil it) but it really doesn't hit til the last 15-20 minutes. My partner refuses to watch the movie with me again. I think the "kitty kitty" noise that the girl makes has to be one of the most iconic noises ever. I have no idea what she is actually saying but that is the way I've always heard it. Also, her weapon of choice is quite disturbing (and unique).

I didn't understand Kairo at all. I literally didn't know what was going halfway through the film, I read wikipedia to try and get it, and I was still confused. I just didn't understand. I know the movie is supposed to be what Pulse is based off of (I think) but I've never seen that either. I know the movie has something to do with technology and the isolation it causes on people... I just didn't know what happened... I might try and rewatch it. I only vaguely remember it but I was like "wth" after I saw it, maybe I'd get it more after a repeat showing. I have the movie sitting in a box somewhere, might be worth digging up.

Rev wrote:I think the "kitty kitty" noise that the girl makes has to be one of the most iconic noises ever. I have no idea what she is actually saying but that is the way I've always heard it. Also, her weapon of choice is quite disturbing (and unique).

Here's the explanation I found for the "Kiri kiri" noise:"Kiri kiri" has two onomatopoetic meaning in Japanese: If it is referring to an action it means "to drill through", while if it is referring to a sensation it means "a splitting pain, or sharp drilling pain". Both of which refer to the situation presented in this film.

Rev wrote:I didn't understand Kairo at all. I literally didn't know what was going halfway through the film, I read wikipedia to try and get it, and I was still confused. I just didn't understand. I know the movie is supposed to be what Pulse is based off of (I think) but I've never seen that either. I know the movie has something to do with technology and the isolation it causes on people... I just didn't know what happened... I might try and rewatch it. I only vaguely remember it but I was like "wth" after I saw it, maybe I'd get it more after a repeat showing. I have the movie sitting in a box somewhere, might be worth digging up.

I didn't want to sound like I had a concrete idea of what was happening in Kairo. I don't think it was meant to be something that could be logically explained, although I think the fact that you never really understand what's happening added to the creepiness. At the very least, the scene with the girl climbing the tower in the background is one of the most memorable bits in a horror movie ever.

velcrozombie wrote:Here's the explanation I found for the "Kiri kiri" noise:"Kiri kiri" has two onomatopoetic meaning in Japanese: If it is referring to an action it means "to drill through", while if it is referring to a sensation it means "a splitting pain, or sharp drilling pain". Both of which refer to the situation presented in this film.

Thank you! I have been wondering about that for many years. That makes so much sense based one what was going on.

velcrozombie wrote:I didn't want to sound like I had a concrete idea of what was happening in Kairo. I don't think it was meant to be something that could be logically explained, although I think the fact that you never really understand what's happening added to the creepiness. At the very least, the scene with the girl climbing the tower in the background is one of the most memorable bits in a horror movie ever.

I'll need to re-watch it then.. Maybe I'll get it a bit more, I don't even remember the scene at that point. I think I was getting too frustrated to enjoy the movie it's probably worth a re-watch at this point. Thanks for explaining this though.